EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–TodayIngenix CEO Andy Slavitt announced the formation of an independent physician advisory board to guide the company’s efforts to support clinicians in modernizing health care delivery through advanced information and technology.

“Our intention at Ingenix is to partner with physicians and design solutions that meet their real-world needs”

The Ingenix Physician Advisory Board, a multidisciplinary group of experts, will work with the company’s innovation teams to address the quality and cost challenges confronting today’s health care delivery system. In addition, the Board will provide input that enhances the capabilities of current Ingenix products and processes to help clinicians improve quality and outcomes. Further, the Board will facilitate ongoing dialogue between physicians and the company to ensure that Ingenix products operate effectively in clinicians’ workflow.

Joseph M. Heyman, M.D., a practicing physician with extensive expertise in applying health information technology to clinical practice will chair the Board. Dr. Heyman has unique perspective and sensitivity to the needs of clinicians from his years as a practicing physician and from his service as former chair of the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees and former President of the Massachusetts Medical Society, publishers of The New England Journal of Medicine.

“Our intention at Ingenix is to partner with physicians and design solutions that meet their real-world needs,” said Slavitt. “We are inspired by the willingness of these strongly independent physician leaders to offer their time and expertise to help Ingenix tackle some of the most complex challenges facing the health care delivery system. Gaining counsel from these highly accomplished, respected and innovative physicians is key to our ability to support physicians’ professional goals and improve the patient-physician experience.”

“As a practicing physician for more than 30 years and a leader of both the national organization of physicians and a state medical society, I have developed a keen understanding of the health information, technology and workflow needs of today’s clinicians,” said Dr. Heyman. “I am encouraged that Ingenix feels so strongly about involving the voice of the profession more intimately in its work. I am excited by this opportunity to help Ingenix better focus its extraordinary resources in support of modernizing the delivery system, and to assist my physician colleagues. Input from the Board will help Ingenix develop solutions to challenges that physicians face, in a manner that takes into account their dedication to patients, their clinical and financial concerns and their workflow.”

Formation of the Physician Advisory Board occurs at a key point in the evolution of the development and deployment of health information technologies, data and analytics that can help meaningfully improve care delivery; expand use of electronic health records (EHRs); enable transparent performance assessment and improvement; and protect the privacy of patient information. The Physician Advisory Board will advise Ingenix on a number of areas including analytic and consultative processes, administrative services and privacy and security. In addition, the Board will serve as a resource to physicians and communities seeking to advance their use of health IT and analytics solutions.

Ingenix currently offers a number of leading solutions designed to improve connectivity, simplicity and patient care, including its Axolotl Elysium health information exchange platform, CareTracker cloud computing EHR, Picis Pulse Check Emergency Room platform and Meaningful Use consulting services through Ingenix Consulting.

Ingenix was created in 1996 to help physicians, hospitals, employers, health plans and other stakeholders solve challenges confronting their organizations; increase access to affordable, high-quality care; improve efficiency in the delivery of health care services; and facilitate fast, easy access to information that supports decision-making across the health care system. Today, Ingenix has more than 12,000 employees, including more than 1,000 clinical professionals, and the company provides a wide range of proven health IT solutions and services to more than 240,000 physicians and nearly 6,000 hospitals in the United States.

Joseph M. Heyman, M.D.

Dr. Heyman is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He serves on the board of commissioners of the Joint Commission, the board of directors of the Joint Commission Resources and the steering committee of the Markle Foundation’s Connecting for Health collaborative. Dr. Heyman is also a member of the certification/adoption and the implementation workgroups of the national Health IT Policy Committee, which makes recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. He served as chair of the AMA Board of Trustees (2008–2009) and secretary (2005–2006) and was chair of the finance committee. He also served as president, vice president and trustee of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and speaker of its House of Delegates. He has also served on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Practicing Physicians Advisory Council.

Willarda V. Edwards, M.D., M.B.A.

Dr. Edwards is the managing partner and internist in partnership in Baltimore and has been in private practice since 1984. She has held national offices in both the AMA and the National Medical Association (NMA). She is immediate past-president of the NMA, is a delegate to the AMA from Maryland and is past chair of the AMA Women Physicians Congress. Dr. Edwards has served more than 18 years on the NMA Board of Trustees in numerous capacities including chairman and treasurer. As NMA president, she served as spokesperson for NMA’s health policy during the health care reform debate. She has served on several governor-appointed commissions and task forces, including the Maryland High Blood Pressure Commission, the Maryland Hospital Rate-Setting Commission and the Health Services Cost Review Commission, where she was a commissioner for eight years.

Salvatore Volpe, M.D., F.A.A.P., F.A.C.P., C.H.C.Q.M.

With over 19 years of primary-care practice experience, Dr. Salvatore Volpe is one of the few physicians in the country to have successfully become board certified in Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Quality Assurance. As president of the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) New York State Chapter, Dr. Volpe is working to bring the various member constituencies together to for the optimal use of health IT and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Dr. Volpe lectures throughout New York for the Medical Society of the State of New York as Chair of the Health IT Task Force. He also is a member of the AMA Health IT Advisory Group.

C. Martin Harris, M.D., M.B.A.

Dr.Harris is a staff member in the Department of General Internal Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, where he also is the chief information officer and chairman of the Information Technology Division. Board-certified in internal medicine, Dr. Harris’ clinical interests include evaluating and managing the critically ill patient during the pre-operative period. Dr. Harris frequently presents at national meetings on health care and technology. He is on the advisory board of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Better Health 2010 committee and is a judge for the case studies in medicine for The Computerworld Smithsonian Honors Program. He also is a member of the American Medical Informatics Association and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

Gregory C. Reicks, D.O., F.A.A.F.P.

An osteopathic physician, Gregory Reicks is president of the Board of Directors for the Quality Health Network regional health information exchange based in Grand Junction, Colorado, and president of the Mesa County Physicians Independent Practice Association, a 218-physician multi-specialty independent practice association. The Dartmouth Atlas Project has cited Mesa County for having some of the lowest-cost, highest-quality care per Medicare member in the nation. Dr. Reicks’ leadership in these associations, combined with more than 20 years as a practicing physician have provided him with extensive insight to the information needs of physicians across their practice.

Alice Loveys, M.D., F.A.A.P., F.H.I.M.S.S.

Dr. Loveys is Board Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics (AAP) and has been practicing pediatrics since 1994. Her area of special interest includes medical informatics. She serves as chief medical information officer for the Monroe County Medical Society in New York, an extension agent for the NYeC Regional Extension Center. She is also on the board of directors of the Rochester Community Individual Practice Association and the advisory committee of the AAP’s Child Health Informatics Center. She has served as membership chair of the HIMSS Davies Ambulatory Committee and as vice chair of the Rochester Regional Health Information Organization’s board of directors. Her practice won the 2004 HIMSS Davies Ambulatory Award for excellence in implementation.

Andrew Nordine, M.D., M.S., F.A.A.P.

Dr. Nordine is a licensed physician with American Board of Pediatrics certifications in both pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine. He is a practicing neonatologist at Cedar Rapids Saint Luke’s (CRSL) Methodist Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and the director of Quality Improvement in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Dr. Nordine chairs the CRSL Department of Pediatrics as well as the NICU Evidence-based Practice Committee. He is a member of several information technology committees working at the hospital and Iowa Health System levels. Dr. Nordine is member of HIMSS, the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, and the American Medical Informatics Association.

Stuart Cohen, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P.

Dr. Cohen is senior shareholder and board member of Children’s Primary Care Medical Group, Inc., in San Diego. He currently serves as vice chair of the AAP, District 9 (California) and has been an AAP delegate to the AMA since 1996. Dr. Cohen is an appointed member of the AMA Group Practice Advisory Bard and was a member of the long-serving AMA Ad-Hoc Task Force on E/M CPT Coding. He chairs the AAP California District delegation to the California Medical Association and is a member of its Task Force on Primary Care. Dr. Cohen is past president of the San Diego county Medical Society and is current president of the San Diego County Medical Society Foundation.

About Ingenix

Ingenix is a leading provider of health information, technology and consulting services. Organizations, institutions, businesses and government agencies that comprise the health care system depend on Ingenix solutions and insights to improve their performance. Visit www.ingenix.com for more information.

TAMPA, FL–(Marketwire – October 6, 2010) – Sage North America today announced that the Sage Healthcare Division, a major provider of electronic health records (EHR) and practice management software and services to approximately 80,000 physicians in North America, is fully engaged in the process of certifying Sage Intergy Meaningful Use Edition as a qualified meaningful use solution, which will enable physicians to qualify for incentives under the HITECH stimulus package released as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA) Act of 2009. Continue reading: Sage Fully Engaged in Certification of Sage Intergy Meaningful Use Edition

CHICAGO, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ — Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) announced today that Allscripts Professional™ EHR, Version 9.2 is 2011/2012 compliant and was certified as a Complete EHR on Sept. 30, 2010 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB), in accordance with the applicable eligible provider certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The 2011/2012 criteria support the Stage 1 meaningful use measures required to qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Additionally, the company announced that Allscripts ED™, Version 6.3 Release 4, and Allscripts PeakPractice™ Version 5.5 are both 2011/2012 compliant and were certified as EHR Modules on Sept. 30, 2010 by CCHIT, in accordance with the applicable hospital and eligible provider certification criteria, respectively, adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

“This certification of the first group of Allscripts Electronic Health Records for mid-sized physician groups and for Emergency Department physicians demonstrates the significant progress we’ve made in certifying our entire portfolio of acute and ambulatory EHRs, all of which we’ve committed to complete before the end of the year, well in advance of when our clients will need the ARRA stamp of approval,” said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts.

Mr. Tullman continued, “The Federal incentives for EHR adoption represent an unparalleled opportunity for healthcare organizations to bend the curve on healthcare quality and cost. We believe our ARRA-certified products – coupled with our experience delivering meaningful value for tens of thousands of physician practices and hospitals across the country – make Allscripts an ideal organization to partner with as we create the future of healthcare together.”

The ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tests and certifies that Complete EHRs meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria and EHR Modules meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for either eligible provider or hospital technology. Companies offering ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certified EHR modules may return to test additional criteria and certify their products as Complete EHRs later. Companies certifying products early in the ONC-ATCB certification process must quickly adapt their products to meet the evolving nature of the NIST test procedures, particularly for electronic prescribing. ONC-ATCB product certification updates will be available at http://www.cchit.org as they occur.

“CCHIT is pleased to be testing and certifying products so that companies are now able to offer these products to providers who wish to purchase and implement certified EHR technology and achieve meaningful use in time for the 2011-2012 incentives,” said Karen M. Bell, M.D., M.S.S., Chair, CCHIT.

2011/2012 certification conferred by CCHIT does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nor does it guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.

Allscripts (NASDAQ: MDRX) provides innovative solutions that empower all stakeholders across the healthcare continuum to deliver world-class outcomes. The company’s clinical, financial, connectivity and information solutions for hospitals, physicians and post-acute organizations are the essential technologies that enable a connected healthcare community. To learn more about Allscripts, please visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

About CCHIT

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology. The Commission has been certifying electronic health record technology since 2006 and is approved by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). More information on CCHIT, CCHIT Certified® products and ONC-ATCB certified electronic health record technology is available at http://cchit.org.

About ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification

The ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tests and certifies that EHR technology is capable of meeting the 2011/2012 criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The certifications include Complete EHRs, which meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria for either eligible provider or hospital technology and EHR Modules, which meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria. ONC-ATCB certification aligns with Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology published in the Federal Register in July 2010 and strictly adheres to the test procedures published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the time of testing. ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification conferred by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nor does it guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.

“CCHIT®” and “CCHIT Certified®” are registered trademarks of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.

The HITECH Act states that physicians need to go paperless and implement an electronic health record (EHR) within the next few years. This is a great way to reduce medical errors; however, what about the security?

Everyone’s biggest fear about a paperless environment is the security. And you know what; security IS the biggest issue right now.

No one wants their health records compromised, and unfortunately in many cases they have been. One medical center compromised over 130,000 of its patients’ information when a FedEx shipper lost a bundle full of CDs containing UNENCRYPTED data. Continue reading: Just How Secure Is Your Data?

As reported here and onEHRtv.com, The Department of Health And Human Services recently announced new guidelines for controlling and reporting security breaches of Electronic Medical Records. Now, just weeks after HHS’ announcement, Virginia has revealed that the EMRs of 8 million patients may have been compromised.

Yesterday, an FBI Official confirmed that they are investigating a $10 million ransom demand by a hacker or hackers, who say they have stolen nearly 8.3 million patient records from a Virginia government Web site that tracks prescription drug abuse. The breach involves the Virginia State Prescription Drug Monitoring Program’s website, www.pmp.dhp.virginia.gov/. Virginia’s governor said state police are also cooperating in the investigation. In a statement the governor said that the breach of patient EMR data is a serious crime, and is being treated as such.As of this writing the Website is still down.

FBI officials were made aware of the potential breach when last week they were contacted by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA). Asked whether patient information is secure, the FBI Official would not say, only that an incident had occurred. “I really can’t make a declarative statement as to whether anyone’s information is in jeopardy at this point,” the official said. Apparently a message appeared on the front page of the Program’s website from a hacker who claimed to have obtained the EMR information of the over 8 million patients in the system – and would sell the data to the highest bidder if the state did not pay him or them – 10 million dollars.

Sandra Whitley Ryals, director of the Virginia Department of Health Professions, which runs the program, confirmed that a criminal investigation is underway into the potential security breach which occurred on April 30. Since the unauthorized message was posted, the department has been working “very closely and cooperatively with federal and state law enforcement to resolve the situation. “The entire DHP system has been shut down since [April 30th] to protect the security of the program data,” Ryals said in a statement released to the Press.

A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Health, which uses different software than the Prescription Monitoring Program, said that the Monitoring Program’s website is now secure, but that “something did happen.” The records that were allegedly stolen do contain social security numbers and other information valuable to identity thieves.

Michael Fitzpatrick, president and CEO of the NCX Group, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based computer-security consulting group commenting on the incident said that many government agencies just do not have the budgets to take the best security measures to prevent sophisticated attacks by hackers.

When health care professionals consider security they are generally thinking of their patient’s privacy, and what will happen to their sense of ownership as they move from paper charts to electronic data storage.

Security is an ever growing concern for clinics of all sizes. Data security used to consist of locking the office doors at night before leaving with a box full of charts that need completing. With the introduction of wireless notebooks, off-site billing companies, lab companies, and branch offices, clinics are now faced with an ever-changing array of security related responsibilities, many of which seem unnecessary or overwhelming to a physician who simply wants to concentrate on quality patient care, not technological security needs. So this begs the question: How important is it to ensure that patient data is secure? Continue reading: Evolve with Clinical Security